Revenge and Reason
by schwans
Summary: Round 11 of the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition. A moment from the last two weeks of the lives of Gideon and Fabian Prewett.


Revenge and Reason

The Auror Department's holiday party was usually something that was never brought up after the fact. A lot of drinking was usually involved, a few shenanigans that the younger ones vowed to never repeat as they recovered from terrible goblin brewed hangovers. Let it never be said Aurors were dull and grim at parties, the old ones were the ones who brought the whiskey anyway. It was apparently cheaper then buying the food if Fabian remembered his first office party correctly. Aurors' disliked sharing food as well.

He looked around for his twin brother, Gideon, as the annual office party began at a slow burn with people still coming in with alcohol in brown paper bags and what appeared to be a very large cheese plate with the girl with the crackers following close behind. Nora Newton was starting to tell one of the longwinded jokes she was so fond of to a group of her coworkers who were unable to escape. Fabian slinked along the wall and ended up behind a fern plant specifically so she would not see him and try to call him over. He ducked behind a desk when Nora's back was turned as he worked towards the back where the investigation files where kept.

"Okay, so three Death Eaters walk into a bar-" Nora started as Fabian clicked the door to the back offices shut behind him. Gideon would be back in here working on something, probably to track down Dolohov from pervious reports. Gideon was, there was no other word for it, obsessed to catching him and arresting him for his crimes. Fabian understood, Dolohov was a suspect in murdering one of their old school friends, Jean Walsh. Fabian understood why Gideon was so obsessed with it; he could practically read his mind since they were in nappies.

There was muffled swearing from the case file closet, Fabian knocked and opened it to find Gideon hopping up and down on one foot and one of the metal cabinets on the floor with its contents on the floor like it had survived a nasty explosion. There were phrasing coming out of Gideon's mouth that would have earned him a long violent death at the hands of their mother or sister if they had heard him.

"I haven't heard that phrase in a while." Fabian commented as he stepped into the large closet with his brother and closed the door behind him. "You know you shouldn't be here. If you are redecorating our case closet, as your better half I need to tell you it looks terrible and I much prefer how it looked before you came in here."

"I'm thinking about making this my office. The boss won't mind, Moody will bitch but I got here first." Gideon flicked his wand and the cabinet righted itself and the files flew back to their proper places.

"So, you know they're starting our office holiday party right? Baker and Taylor brought cheese and crackers, and that cheese looked fancy."

"Don't treat me like one of your interrogations, that good enforcer routine is stale. If you want to ask me something, go right ahead."

"How are you holding up?"

Gideon gave him a look that their mother gave them when they said stupid things.

"Yeah, stupid question." Fabian paused. "I know you're not okay, and I was wondering if there was anything I could do to help."

"Help me find Dolohov."

"Revenge won't solve anything, it's not part of the job. We track them down for committed crimes not to settle scores."

"I know." Fabian doubted it by the set of his jaw and the hard look in his eyes. "I understand, but it was Jean. She was in he wrong place at the wrong time, she never had it in her to hurt anybody and she was an activist for co-existence with muggles and muggleborn acceptance."

"Activism invites all kinds of problems. Jean was really brave, but she paid the price of being vocal with her opinions the way things are now." Gideon stood up and Fabian stepped back in case his brother tried to take a swing at him. "I don't blame Jean, what happened to her was not her fault."

"No it wasn't, but the person whose fault it was needs to be locked up."

Fabian liked Jean, she was upright and moral, but never really seemed to care about the consequences of being vocal with her opinions. Her lack of valuing her own life was what got her killed. There was far more to Gideon's feelings about this case then the murder of an old school friend.

"You know how mum says there are two kinds of secrets, the ones to close to let go and the ones to damning to mention. What kind of secret is this?" Fabian leaned back against the door and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "C'mon Gideon."

Gideon gave Fabian a look that would have killed if a mere look had that kind of power. "I don't want to talk about it."

Fabian was not a noted puzzle lover for nothing. "You liked her, didn't you?"

Gideon was silent.

"Do you want any help?"

"Yes, yes I would." Gideon reached for the filing cabinet again as Fabian turned the door handle and opened the door.

"I'll help you if you come to the party. I might need you to run interference with Nora and help me taste test this cheese. Besides, I think better when I'm not in a stuffy office." Fabian stepped out the door and held it open for Gideon who was now on his feet with a folder in his hand. "Look, we'll put this puzzle together in a couple of days after Christmas with Molly and Arthur."

"Don't forget the boys." Gideon shrunk the folder down and put it in his pocket. "Did we wrap their gifts yet?"

"Eh… We can do it in the morning."

Gideon and Fabian Prewett were dead two weeks later.

* * *

Prompts used

Party;

"I thought about how there are two types of secrets: the kind you want to keep in, and the kind you don't dare let out."—Ally Carter,

Dialogue: "You know you shouldn't be here."


End file.
